Earth becoming a disease hot spot : The warming earth is making us sick. Rising temperatures, frequent floods and prolonged droughts are ideal conditions for infectious diseases to spread. "Global warming is fuelling epidemics in areas which are unprepared. We're seeing the emergence of new diseases around the world. Old diseases are also coming back with a vengeance,"
Climate change has dramatically changing infection trends.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Why is A (H1N1) death rate in Malaysia four times the global fatality rate?

The first death related to the A(H1N1) virus was reported on 23 July, 2009

LETTER by Lim Kit Siang

Why is A (H1N1) death rate in Malaysia four times the global case fatality rate?

Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai should explain why Malaysia’s A (H1N1) death rate is four times the global case fatality rate.

Malaysia’s death toll from A (H1N1) flu has topped 56 since the first fatality three weeks ago.

The influenza A (H1N1) mortality rate in Malaysia is close to 2% instead of the 0.1% to 0.4% as estimated by the Health Ministry. It reflects an unusual phenomenon. Without finding out the crux of the problem, assuming that 5 million of people are infected, probably 100,000 of them will die, instead of 5,000 to 28,000 as estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Full and satisfactory explanations are warranted from Liow.

Are we prepared for a second H1N1 wave? Calls for a National Pandemic Flu Service to be set up.

THE government appears to be unprepared for an expected second wave of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus in the coming weeks, say medical experts.

They said the Health Ministry has failed to offer reassurance that health services can deal with the predicted surge, when many could become ill.

They called for clarity on how intensive and critical care departments will cope with high patient numbers.

“We should be concerned about medical staff providing services outside their usual expertise if they are transferred around the country to the areas experiencing most demand,” said an expert, who declined to be named.

He said a National Pandemic Flu Service, similar to the one in England, should be set up to diagnose cases over the phone or Internet and distribute drugs at pharmacies and health centres.

“A national H1N1 helpline should also be set up because the levels of infection are significant. The public should be given assurances that the government can cope with high demand,” he said.

Another medical analyst said she was disappointed that tests to examine how the full range of health services would respond in a pandemic had not been carried out earlier.

“While the government has got some things right in preparing for a flu pandemic, there are other areas where we appear to be underprepared,” she said.

“We were surprised and disappointed that the government had not undertaken ‘whole system’ testing of the health service preparations for a flu pandemic before H1N1 emerged.”

Private doctors, staff also hit by H1N1

KUALA LUMPUR: Influenza A (H1N1) has forced the closure of several private clinics when the doctors or their staff came down with the illness.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr David K.L. Quek said they were aware of this but had no details.

When told that many doctors do not wear face masks to protect themselves, Dr Quek said this was because patients would feel uncomfortable when doctors covered their faces.

Global Warming Articles

Let's Go Green & Save The World : Mentor Gemilang

God Has Forbidden Us To Destroy This Earth That He Has Created. God has created Mankind as a ‘Guardian’ of this earth. OUR PURPOSE IS TO MAKE IT PROSPER NOT TO DESTROY IT..

The Truth Hurts - Truth is such a rare thing, it is delighted to tell it.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.

Truth always rests with the minority, and the minority is always stronger than the majority, because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion, while the strength of a majority is illusory, formed by the gangs who have no opinion

Are u protected against Influenza A(H1N1)?

Simple, low-cost measures such as hand-washing, wearing masks and quarantining infected patients provide a good shield against the spread of flu and other respiratory viruses.

Repentance (At Taubah)

We can never be perfect since even prophets have at times made mistakes. Repentance means to abandon one's rebelliousness and arrogance before God and to stop deliberately disregarding His commandments without feeling any shame. Repentance also means to humbly hope for the mercy of God and to fear His judgment while doing the best one can to fulfill divine wishes within the limits of one's human weaknesses.